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Rabbi Lyon's Blog - 01_31_2014

01/30/2014 07:00 AM
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From the Desk of Rabbi David Lyon
January 31, 2014

In
Exodus 25, we begin the weekly Torah portion, Terumah. This is the portion that
describes the building project for God’s wilderness Tabernacle. God tells Moses
to say to the Israelites, “Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you
shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him” (Exodus
25:2). The Hebrew words “asher yidvenu libo” explain the voluntary spirit. Yidvenu
means that the quantity of the gift, and whether or not a gift was given at
all, was voluntary. Therefore, everybody who donated was called a Nadiv, a
noble contributor. Next the people were directed to take all the voluntary
contributions and make a Tabernacle, a dwelling place for God. God said, “Make
Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8).

The
voluntary contributions made everyone a stakeholder in the wilderness
sanctuary. And every noble contributor was regarded as a member of the
covenant. Furthermore, the building project created a wilderness Tabernacle
that made it possible for God to move with the people wherever they went. God
didn’t remain on Mount Sinai; rather, the covenant bound God and the Israelites
to go together.

Traditionally,
the words from Exodus 25:8, have been inscribed on the walls of synagogues.
They are a reference to the Torah verse and the meaning of establishing a
Tabernacle wherever Jews settled. It’s part of our on-going expectation that
God surely did not remain on Mount Sinai. Indeed, the citation from Exodus
25:8, affirmed the hope that wherever the Jewish people lived, there would be a
Tabernacle, a sanctuary wherein the Jewish community would find God’s presence.
So, the Torah portion and the familiar verse represent not only the past when
God dwelt in the wilderness Tabernacle, but also the present when our generation
brings God along wherever we go.

Now,
it becomes clear why the Jewish home is also called a “Mikdash Me’at” a small
sanctuary. It’s a sacred place where God’s presence can be found with us and
our family. Oftentimes, the synagogue is regarded as the most important
institution in Jewish life, but it isn’t. The Jewish home is the most vital
part of the Jewish community. I’ve often said, ‘If Judaism isn’t happening at
home; it isn’t happening.” We can’t lay the responsibility for Jewish living
solely on the synagogue. It’s a resource of everything we need, but not the
bearer of our personal Jewish responsibilities.

Judaism
is unique in its emphasis on God’s approachability. There is no intermediary in
Judaism. God isn’t only in the synagogue, or as some children grow up to
believe, in the Holy Ark. God is everywhere and immediate. God is in the
synagogue, in the home, and especially in the heart. We build a beautiful and
sacred synagogue. We put a mezuzah on our home, and we value our body as a
vessel that houses the soul; therefore, it shouldn’t be a mystery why we should
keep our body healthy, we shouldn’t pierce our body beyond repair, and we
shouldn’t tattoo it as if it were a coloring book.

God
is with us everywhere we go. Our contributions to synagogue, home and body,
tell much about our “noble” character. Everybody who brings contributions to
support Jewish life, whether a little or a lot, is a noble contributor. That’s
the beauty of mitzvah; it’s not for the sake of the reward, but for the sake of
the mitzvah. This week, bring God with you wherever you go. Make room for God in
the synagogue, at home with you, and in your heart along the way.